ZachXBT Warns AscendEX Users of Potential Liquidity Issues and Delayed Withdrawals

On-chain analysis reportedly revealed limited holdings of major assets, raising concerns about the liquidity of the exchange.

ZachXBT says AscendEX users are experiencing withdrawal delays, with some requests not being processed at all.

Several people have reported that transactions have been stuck for days, sometimes even weeks.

AscendEX Users Report Withdrawal Issues

The Chain Detective issued a warning in its Telegram group, alerting members of possible liquidity challenges.

“I have observed multiple reports that centralized exchange AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) is delaying user withdrawals by several days/weeks or not processing withdrawals,” he wrote.

After examining Arkham and TRM for known hot wallets, ZachXBT observed that the exchange’s reserves appear to be lacking in large-cap tokens like USDT, ETH, and SOL. This indicates that the platform is likely to have liquidity issues. He also provided some Solana, Tron and EVM wallet addresses used in the investigation.

According to community reports, users who attempted to withdraw funds from AscendEX had their transactions stuck in “initiation” mode for over a week.

On Reddit, one user described their experience, stating that withdrawals don’t even produce a transaction ID. Their funds were debited from their available balance and are now blocked without any explanation from the platform, they said.

For its part, the exchange has yet to offer any meaningful assistance or explanations through its support channels nor has it issued a public response to the concerns.

You might also like:

AscendEX, formerly known as Bitmax, was founded by George Cao and Ariel Ling in 2018. North Korean group Lazarus hacked the platform in December 2021 for $78 million.

ZachXBT Reports JuCoin Reserves Amid Withdrawal Concerns

This is not the first time an exchange has come under scrutiny for delays in processing transactions. ZachXBT recently reported similar issues to JuCoin, alleging that its reserves are not backed by liquid assets.

The blockchain detective questioned JuCoin’s reported reserves of $511 million, saying most of it appeared to be tied to USDC and USDT issued on its JuChain without clear backing. He also took issue with the publicly traded team, saying the project appeared to be out of its control, but the team responded by saying the disruptions were caused by ongoing upgrades and restructuring.

However, affected users continued to demand clear deadlines, transparency and assurance that their assets are available for transfer.

Attackers also exploited JuDAO for $225,000 in April and a $20 million incident last year. Meanwhile, the East Asian Stock Exchange has changed its name several times in the past.